March 22, 2013

Poll: Most Americans still do not understand the ACA

Three years after passage of the Affordable Care Act, 67 percent of the
uninsured younger than age 65 — and 57 percent of the overall population — say
they do not understand how the ACA will impact them, according to a poll
released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation (Source: “Poll: Three Years
Later, Americans Still Don’t Understand Health Law,” Kaiser Health News, March
20, 2013).

In addition, 78 percent say they haven’t heard enough to say
whether their state plans to expand Medicaid, a decision the Supreme Court made
optional in its landmark ACA decision last year. “This is equally true in
states where the governor has stated that they will expand Medicaid and in
those whose governor has said they will not move forward with the expansion,”
the pollsters note.

The poll also found that Americans’ expectations of how the law will affect health care costs, quality and consumer protections are more negative than positive.